Rare 1865 baseball card to be auctioned

A rare baseball card from 1865 is expected to bring in six figures when it is put up for auction next month.

The card, an 1865 photo of the Brooklyn Atlantics, is so rare it is one of only two known in existence. The other? It's in the Library of Congress.

The card was discovered by an antiques picker in Baileyville, a town of about 1,700 people in rural Washington County, the Portland Press Herald said.

"Any auctioneer in the country would want this card,” said Floyd Hartford, of Saco River Auctions in Biddeford, Maine, who will put up the piece of baseball history.

Saco River Auctions set a record in August for the sale of a 1888 Michael "King" Kelly card for $72,100, but auction house manager Troy Thibodeau said the Atlantics card should eclipse even that impressive sum.

"If the other one was a home run, this is a grand slam," Thibodeau said. "It will make huge waves in the industry."

Baseball trade cards began to appear in the late 1860s featuring individual players as both baseball and photography became more popular. The earliest trade cards are believed to have been distributed by Peck and Snyder, a sporting goods store in New York, as an advertising vehicle.

According to the Press Herald, the picker who discovered the card was looking for furniture at a yard sale, but instead found the photo album containing the baseball card in a woodshed.

A Boston-based photo conservator Paul Messier authenticated the card Monday in a process that took $700 and nearly 6 hours.

The card is a "carte de viste" a small photograph usually made of albumen print, mounted on thicker paper. It shows the ten players of the Atlantics, a team that was dominant in early baseball and won championships in 1861, 1864 and 1865.

The Brooklyn Atlantics card will go up for sale on Feb. 6 at 5 p.m. in Biddeford, Maine.

United Press International is a leading provider of news, photos and information to millions of readers around the globe via UPI.com and its licensing services.

With a history of reliable reporting dating back to 1907, today's UPI is a credible source for the most important stories of the day, continually updated - a one-stop site for U.S. and world news, as well as entertainment, trends, science, health and stunning photography. UPI also provides insightful reports on key topics of geopolitical importance, including energy and security.

A Spanish version of the site reaches millions of readers in Latin America and beyond.

UPI was founded in 1907 by E.W. Scripps as the United Press (UP). It became known as UPI after a merger with the International News Service in 1958, which was founded in 1909 by William Randolph Hearst. Today, UPI is owned by News World Communications.